The Candidate: Dr Groth is an Assistant Professor of Nursing and a nationally certified women's health nurse practitioner. Her long-term goal is to become an independent investigator in patient oriented research, with the expertise to implement gene-based exercise interventions to prevent obesity in high risk women. This program of research focuses on obesity in women, with an emphasis on the genetic effects on weight gain, especially in the vulnerable time of pregnancy and interventions to prevent and/or limit excessive pregnancy weight gain. The intermediate goals of this career development plan focus on education and research. The educational goal is to acquire skills central to test gene-environment interactions and the implementation of intervention studies in the context of an interdisciplinary team in preparation for a full scale R01. The research goal is to develop expertise as an independent investigator by implementing two projects to develop expertise as an independent involving (a) clarification of the gene-environment interaction of the GNB3 gene and (b) focus groups to elicit the attitudes and beliefs of African-American women about physical activity during pregnancy. The findings will provide a framework for the establishing a foundation for genetic-based behavioral intervention research. These goals are the direct result of the candidate's experiences as a women's health nurse practitioner coupled with training at the NINR summer genetics institute in 2006. Practice as a clinician providing health care to underserved and uninsured women since 1994 has extensively influenced my research goals. This proposed career development plan pulls together discrete areas of research that require very different skill sets. Therefore, an interdisciplinary team of mentors and consultants, with distinct areas of expertise, have been included in this career development team. Environment: The University of Rochester, School of Nursing, a part of the University of Rochester Medical Center, has a long history of nursing research. In 2006 the University of Rochester received a $40 million NIH award to establish a Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI), which has increased support to researchers across the medical center and created an atmosphere conducive to collaborative and interdisciplinary teams for translational research from T1-T4. The candidate received funding from the CTSI for a KL2 scholar award in July 2008, which provides bridging funding for 1-2 years until individual funding can be attained. Given the supportive environment, the early stages of this career development plan recently began under the guidance of this team of experienced NIH funded, nationally recognized mentors, who provide an essential combination of expertise for the identified areas of development: expertise in research design including RCTs and focus groups, cultural competency and recruiting of vulnerable populations, genetics, and exercise in pregnancy. Research: Recent figures indicate three-quarters of all African-American women are overweight or obese. Obesity in African-American women is due, in part, to excessive pregnancy weight gain. Genetic susceptibility and individual behaviors likely interact and contribute to pregnancy weight gain, which then contributes to long- term obesity. Thus, prevention of excessive gestational weight gain would decrease morbidity and mortality in US African-American women. Little is known about gene-environment interactions that contribute to pregnancy weight gain. Seventy percent of the world-wide African-American population carries the GNB3 825T allele, which appears to be associated with increased gestational weight gain, postpartum weight retention, and low birth weight. It is postulated that African-American women who gain and retain excessive pregnancy weight and deliver smaller infants are carriers of the 825T allele--an effect that may be attenuated by physical activity. The overarching goal of this proposal is to establish the foundation to develop, test, and implement a physical activity intervention in high-risk African American women using the essential amount of physical activity, based on genotype, required to limit excessive weight gain/retention in pregnancy. To this end, the research plan has 3 aims: (a) examine the GNB3 825T allele gene-environment interaction during pregnancy;(b) determine the critical levels of physical activity essential to prevent excessive weight gain for women who carry the 825T allele;and (c) identify women's beliefs regarding physical activity during pregnancy and what physical activities African-American women would participate in while pregnant. To accomplish these goals two projects will be conducted: 1) Phase I study--a prospective candidate gene-association study examining the GNB3 825T allele and how it interacts with physical activity during pregnancy and 2) Phase II study--a qualitative, descriptive study that utilizes focus groups to elicit the attitudes and beliefs of African-American women regarding physical activity during pregnancy. The Phase I study, utilizing established interviews and questionnaires for dietary and physical activity measurement, pedometers, weight/height measurement, resting energy expenditure measures, and deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) was approved by the University of Rochester Research Subjects Review Board. The protocol and procedures are in place and active recruitment has recently commenced. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: Obesity in US women, especially African-American women is due, in part, to excessive pregnancy weight gain. Genetic susceptibility and individual behaviors likely interact and contribute to pregnancy weight gain, which then contributes to obesity. Prevention of excessive gestational weight gain would decrease morbidity and mortality in US African-American women.